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HISTORICAL SKETCH 



OIP 



JERSEY COUNTY, 



iLLiisrois. 



9Jeltvevexl ctt tTer'seyville, July ^ir, 187G, 



B'Y" 






^y OF CO;, 

1876. \.,y 






JACKSONVILLE, ILL : 

CoridKR Steam Pkintino House. 

1876. 



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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



In the preparation of this sketch reference has been dah 
to the following authorities : Western Annals, Reynolds' 
History of Illinois, History of Illinois, by Davidson & Stuve, 
Atlas of Greene and Jersey Counties, Records of the Circuit 
and County Courts, and the History of Jersey ville, by Rev. 
L. Grosvenor, 1853. And the writer desires to mention 
valuable assistance rendered hin; by Messrs. L. R. Lakin 
and F. M. Roberts, of Carroilton'; M. E. Bagley, T.J. Selby, 
Hon. R. M. Knapp, O. B. Hamilton, J. H. Buffington and 
Wm. McDow, of Jersey County. Imperfect as the sketch 
is, it would have been still more so without their help. 




Historical Address. 



Within the current year, an editorial in the Christian Union 
expressed some surprise at the idea of the great West partici- 
pating to any great extent in the rejoicings of our Nation's Cen- 
tennial, because the West had only been settled and developed 
within the last fifty years. It would, perhaps, excite a smile to 
assure the learned writer, that on the score of antiquity Illinois 
is but very little behind Plymouth Rock, and that the smoke of 
Saratoga had barely settled when a conquest for the American 
arms was achieved, without shedding a drop of blood, which 
added territory as great in extent as the inhabited area of the 
original thirteen colonies. Ninety-eight years ago to-day. Col. 
George Rogers Clark, with one hundred and fifty-three men, 
acting under commission from Patrick Henry, then Governor of 
Virginia, captured Fort Gage and the village of Kaskaskia from 
the British, and thereby ended forever the rule of England in 
the Valley of the Mississippi. It is not my purpose to dwell on 
the particular incidents of this expedition. When I think of 
the audacity of the design, the small means at command, the 
hardihood displayed, with the splendor of the result, I can sym- 
pathize fully with the sentiment of Joe Daviess, when speaking 
of Clark and his achievements: "When I think of this I feel 
like Moses at the burning bush — ' Put oflTthy shoes from off thy 
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.' " 
Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes fell successively into the 
hands of the conqueror, and an empire was redeemed from the 
baleful infiuence of British rule. 

True, Vincennes, while held by a sergeant and one priv^ate, 
was recaptured by Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton — the British '' hair- 
buyer," as he was called by the "long-knives; " but in February 
following, Clark marched across the country and retook the 
post, and Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton with it. And this was the end 



4 History of Jersey County. 

of the Revolutionary War, so far as Illinois was concerned ; for 
Clark, by a master stroke of diplomacy , had succeeded in attach- 
ing the French population and their Indian allies to the fortunes 
of the colonies. If the means had permitted Clark to have 
pushed on and taken Detroit, and thus ended British domination 
on this side of the lakes, it is probable that the defeat of St. 
Clair, the death of Crawford, and the closmg expedition of 
" Mad Anthony " would have been vmnecessary. " So impor- 
tant were Clark's achievements considered, that on the 23d of 
November, 1778, he and his brave officers and men were voted 
the thanks of the Virginia House of Delegates for their extra- 
ordinary resolution and perseverance in so hazardous an enter- 
prise, and the important services thereby rendered the country." 
"In October, 1778, the Virginia Assembly erected the con- 
quered country, embracing all the territory northwest of the 
Ohio claimed under this conquest and otherwise, into the county 
of Illinois" — a pretty extensive county, which has since been 
converted into five large States, containing a population now 
exceeding 10,000,000. Col. Clark continued to be the military 
commander of all the western territory, both north and south of 
the Ohio, including Illinois. " Col. John Todd, then residing in 
Fayette county, Ky., who, under Clark, had been the first man 
to enter Fort Gage, was appointed lieutenant-commandant of 
the county of Illinois." "In the spring of 1779 Col. Todd 
visited Kaskaskia, and began at once to organize a temporary 
government for the colonies." 

On the 15th of June he issued the following proclamation: 
JOHN TODD'S PROCLAMATION, JUNE 15, 1779. 
Illinois (County) to-wit: 

Whereas, From the fertility and healthy situation of the land? border- 
ing upon the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Wabash rivers, the taking up 
of the usual quantity of land heretofore allowed for a settlement by the 
government of Virginia, would injure both the strength and the commerce 
of the country; 1 do, therefore, issue this proclamation, strictly enjoining 
all persons whatsoever from making any settlements upon the flat lands 
of said rivers, or within one league of said lands, unless m manner and 
form of settlements heretofore made by French inhabitants, until further 
orders herein given. And, in order that all the claims to land in said 
county may be fully known, and some method provided for perpetuating, 
by record, the just claims, every inhabitant is required, as soon as conven- 
iently may be, to lay before the person in each district appointed for that 
purpose, a memorandum of his or her land, with copies of all their vouch- 
ers; and when vouchers have been given, or any lost, such depositions or 
certificates as will tend to support their claims; the memorandum to men- 
tion the quantity of land, to whom originally granted, and when, deducing 
the title through various occupants to the present possessor. The number 



History of Jersey County. 5 

of adventurers who will shortly overrun this country renders the above 
method necessary, as well a,s to ascertain the vacant lands as to guard 
against trespasses which wdl probably be committed on lands not on record. 

Given under my hand and seal, at K iskaskia, the loth of -Tune, in the 
third year of the Commonwealth. 1779. JOHN TODD, JR. 

" Three hundred family boats arrived at the Fulls of the Ohio 
in the spring of 1780, mostly destined for Kentucky, Among 
the immigrants to Illinois we note the names of James Moore, 
Shadrach Bond, James Garrison, Robert Kidd, and Larkin 
Rutherford, the two latter having been with Clark. They 
were from Virginia and Maryland. With their fiimilies, they, 
without molestation in those perilous times, crossed the Alle- 
ghanies, descended the Ohio, stemmed the Mississippi, and 
landed safely at Kaskaskia." "James Piggott, John Doyle, 
Robert Whitehead, and a Mr. Bowen, soldiers in Clark's expe- 
dition, also shortly after settled in Illinois." In 1 7S5 "came 
Joseph Ogle, Joseph Worley, and James Andrews, all from Vir- 
ginia, and each with a large family." In the following year the 
settlement was further augmented by the arrival of James 
Lemen, George Atchinson, and David Waddell, with their fam- 
ilies, beside several others." Col. Todd was killed in the battle 
of Blue Licks, Ky., August 18, 17S2, and was succeeded in com- 
mand of Illinois county by a Frenchman named Timothy de 
Montbrun, concerning whose administration, either as to acts 
performed or the time it continued, we have no certain account. 

The ordinance of 1787 was passed on the 13th of July of that 
year, and up to 1790 there was literally no civil government in 
Illinois; although on the 5th of October of 1787, Maj.-Gen. 
Arthur St. Clair had been appointed by congress governor of 
the Northwest Territory. In the summer of 17S8, the governor 
and judges (Samuel Holden Parsons, James Mitchell Varnum, 
and John Cleve Symmes) met at Marietta, the first seat of gov- 
ernment, and adoj^ted and promulgated a code of laws for the 
whole territorv. While some counties were laid off in Ohio, 
nothing was done for Illinois until February, 1790, when the 
governor and his secretary (Winthrop Sargent) arrived at Kas- 
kaskia. " The country within the boundaries of our present 
State, extending northward to the mouth of Little Mackinaw 
Creek, on the Illinois, was organized into a county, which was 
named after his excellency, St. Clair, and may be called the 
mother of counties in Illinois." It was divided into three dis- 
tricts, with three judges — John Edgar, of Kaskaskia; John 



6 History of Jersey County. 

Baptiste Barbeau, of Prairie du Rocher; and John D. Moulin^ 
of Cahokia; each to hold court in the district of his residence. 
Court was to be held every three months in each district. Wm. 
St. Clair, brother of the governor, was appointed clerk and 
recorder of deeds, and Wm. Biggs, sheriff. The county-seat 
was located at Cahokia. There was only one lawyer (John 
Rice Jones) in Illinois. Isaac Darneille came into the territory 
before the year 1800." 

The wars with the Indians retarded the settlement of the 
country from 1790 to the treaty of Greenville, August 3, i795- 
After this the tide of emigrants began to flow steadily into the 
territories. In this year the governor divided St. Clair county 
by running a line due east to the Wabash, through the New 
Design settlement, in the present limits of Monroe county, 
naming the county south of said line Randolph, in honor of 
Gov. Randolph, of Virginia. On the third Monday of Decem- 
ber, 1798, an election was held for a delegate to a territorial 
legislature, which was convened in Cincinnati on the 23d of 
January, 1799. Shadrach Bond was elected delegate from 
Illinois. 

By act of congress approved May 7, 1800, the Northwest 
Territory was divided, and the western part was called Indiana, 
with the seat of government located at Vincennes. Wm. H. 
Harrison was appointed territorial governor, John Gibson, secre- 
tary, Wm. Clark, John Griflin and Henry Vanderburgh, 
judges. January 3, 1805, the governor ordered an election for a 
territorial legislature, to meet on the 7th of February ; and Shad- 
rach Bond and Wm. Biggs, from St. Clair, and George Fisher,, 
for Randolph, were elected delegates. 

By act of congress approved February 3, 1809, all that part 
of Indiana Territory lying west of the Wabash river should, 
after the first of March following, constitute a separate territory, 
and be called Illinois. The population was estimated at about 
9,000. Ninian Edwards, chief justice of Kentucky, was ap- 
pointed governor April 24, 1S09, and Nathaniel Pope, secre- 
tary; Jesse B. Thomas, Alexander Stuart and Wm. Sprigg, 
judges. Secretary Pope arriving first in Illinois, appointed Elias 
Rector attorney general; John Hay, sherift; Enoch Moore, 
coroner, and seventeen justices of the peace. On the nth of 
June following. Governor Edwards assumed the duties of his 



History of Jersey County. 7 

office. Some changes took place in the appointments. John 
Hay was reappointed clerk of St. Clair county, an office he con- 
tinued to hold until his death, in 1845. In the place of Rector, 
Benjamin H. Doyle was appointed attorney-general; but he 
resigning, John J. Crittenden was appointed; but after a few 
months he in turn resigned, and his brother, Thomas L. Critten- 
den, was appointed. By the census of 18 10, the total popula- 
tion was found to be 13,282, of which 16S were slaves, "a gain 
of about 400 per cent, in the precedmg decade." At this time 
Wood river was the northern bc5undarv of settlements in Illi- 
nois. The Indian title to the lands lying northward had never 
been relinquished. Not long after this the Indians became ex- 
ceedingly troublesome, stirred up by Tecumseh, the worthy 
successor of Pontiac. Still further aroused by the battle of 
Tippecanoe — in which Illinois, like Kentucky, lost some of her 
best men — followed by the massacre at Chicago, August 15, 
181 2, and at a still later period by the massacre at Wood river 
in 1814, there was ample employment for the ten companies of 
rangers, as well as for all the regular troops which the govern- 
ment could supply. During the war period but small additions 
were made to the population. Forts and stockades were built, 
and the people were in a state of constant alarm. Still, in the 
way of law-making, the territorial legislature was equal to the 
emergency, and some of the most astovmding statutes may be 
found in the doings of that period. 

Let us look back a little. On the i6th of September, 181 2, 
Gov. Edwards, by proclamation, organized the counties of Madi- 
son, Pope, Gallatin and Johnson. An election was called for 
members of the territorial legislature on the Sth, 9th and loth 
days of October, and by another proclamation the legislature 
was to convene on the 25th of November. The members of the 
council were: Pierre Menard, of Randolph, president; Wm. 
I^ite?s> °^ S*^* Clair; Samuel Judy, of Madison; Thomas Fergu- 
son, of Johnson; Benjamin Talbott, of Gallatin. John Thomas 
was chosen secretary. The house of representatives consisted 
of Wm. Jones, of Madison; Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short, 
of St. Clair; Geo. Fisher, from Randolph; Philip Trammel 
and Alexander Wilson, of Gallatin; and John Grammar, from 
Johnson county. Their clerk was Wm. C. Greenup. Edwards 
county was organized at the session of 18 14. At the session of 



8 History of Jersey County. 

i8i5-'i6, the counties of White, Monroe, and Jackson were 
organized. 

The enabhng act for Ilhnois to form a State government be- 
came a law April i8, 1818. The convention met at Kaskaskia 
in July, 1818, and closed its labors on the 36th of August fol- 
lowing. Fifteen counties were represented, as follov^^s: St.. 
Clair, Jesse B. Thomas, John Messenger and James Lemen, Jr.; 
Randolph — Geo. Fisher, Elias Kent Kane; Madison — Joseph 
Burroughs, Benjamin Stephenson. Abraham Prickett; Gallatin — 
Michael Jones, Leonard White, Adolphus Frederick Hubbard; 
Johnson — Hezekiah West, Wm. McFatridge; Edwards — Seth 
Gard, Levi Compton; White — Willis Hargrave, Wm. Mc- 
Henry; Monroe — Caldwell Carnes, Enoch Moore; Pope — 
Samuel O'Melveny, Hamlet Ferguson; Jackson — Conrad Will, 
James Hall, Jr. ; Crawford — Joseph Kitchell, Edward W. Cul- 
lom; Bond — Thomas Kilpatrick, Samuel G. Morse; Union — 
Wm. Echols, John Whittaker; Washington — Andrew Bank- 
son; Franklin — Isham Harrison, Thomas Roberts. Jesse B. 
Thomas was chosen president, and Wm. C. Greenup secretary 
of the convention. The State was admitted on the third of 
December, 1818. 

On the 30th of July, 1S17, (the year is not certain in authori- 
ties — I have examined some placing it as late as 1S19), Auguste 
Chouteau and Benjamin Stephenson, on the part of the United 
States, bought at Edwardsville, of the Kickapoo Indians, " ten 
millions of acres of land, lying between the Illinois river on the 
northwest, the Kaskaskia on the southeast, the Kankakee on the 
northeast, and the Mississippi on the soutliwest." And on the 
2oth of August, Benjamin Parke bought for the United States, 
of the Kickapoos of Vermilion, all the lands on the Wabash. 
In consequence of these purchases, the richest lands of the State 
were thrown open to settlement. A year prior to this, certain 
persons had made small settlements south of the Macoupin 
creek, but at the request of Gov. Edwards they removed to 
Madison county, and remained till after the Indian treat}- at 
Edwardsville. The first settlement made in the present limits 
of Jersey county, is given as June 10, 1817, by David Stockton 
and James Whitesides; but this date is exceedingly doubtful. 
From Hon, L. T. Whiteside, of Whitehall, I learn that his 
father, James Whiteside, made in this prairie two improvements; 



History of Jersey County. 9 

one afterward sold to Judge Brown, and the other is known to 
us as the John Brown farm; and that he moved to Morgan 
county in 1821. Samuel Thomas made the first permanent set- 
tlement ndrth of the Macoupin, in iSiS. Next to these we 
locate the settlement near the Piasa, ni 1S19, though some claim 
that it should date from iSiS, as this is given as the time when 
the Carrolls, Cummings, and others came into that portion of 
the county. So nearly as can be ascertained. Judge John G. 
Lofton, John D. Gillham and others came into the county from 
Madison (it was all Madison then) in 1S19, Joseph White and 
his son-in-law, Orman Beeman, came about the same time. 
Judge Hinton tells me that he saw Col. John R. Black here in 
the same year. In the year following, John Brown and others 
came from St. Louis county. Mo. The oldest entries of land I 
find to have been made January 5, 1S21, by Jehu Brown, John 
Evans, John Thornton, and Gershom Patterson; Silas Crain on 
the 22(1, and Philip Grimes on the 23d of January, 182 1. These 
were all in township 8 north 12 west of the third principal 
meridian. Entries were made by John Evans in town 6-13, on 
January 15th, and George Finney on Februar}^ 26th of that 
same year. Col. John R. Black is probably the oldest continued 
resident now living, dating from 1819; and Wm. McDow stands 
next, dating from 1824. Thos. McDow, familiarly known as the 
"'Squire," came and settled in 1823, and resided there (in 7-1 1) 
until the time of his death. The first settlement on Otter creek 
was in 1828, by Thomas White, Jasper Terry, and others. The 
first entry at Jerseyville was made by Joseph M. Fairfield, 
October 20, 1823; the second, five years afterward, by Lindsey 
H. English (August 21, 182S), now of Sangamon county. A 
man named Ballard built the first cabin, and sold it to James 
Faulkner in 1827. It was in 1821 that the counties of Greene, 
Fayette, Montgomery, Lawrence, Hamilton, Sangamon and Pike 
were laid off, and Carrollton was made the county-seat of Grene. 
The present county of Macoupin was included in the limits 
of Greene until the year 1829. Joseph Russell and Silas Hamilton 
made large entries of public lands in the present limits of Jersey 
county in 1830. The settlements made in this county were of 
the same character as of the southern portion of the State — very 
largely from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee; although 
many of them had resided tor a few years preceding their loca- 



lo History of Jersey County. 

tion here in the older settled portions of Illinois, especially in 
that part now known as Madison county. In due time North 
Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina contributed a respectable 
part of the volume of immigrants. The reason of this will be 
obvious on a moment's reflection. Every pioneer coming into 
the wilderness left relatives behind, who, being charmed with 
the reported fertility of soil and beauty of the prairie landscape, 
desired in due time to follow and share in the advantages so 
easily secured. At a later period this was emjDhatically true of 
those who came from Ohio, and at a still later period, of those 
who came from New Jersey. Ami the same remark is true, in 
a limitetl degree, of those who came from Vermont. Hence, 
while so many were relations, all were neighbors, and all within 
the limits of the county were friends. Hospitality and sociability 
prevailed everywhere, both from necessity and choice. 

We come now to the civil jurisdiction of Greene county, 
which was organized by act of the legislature in the winter of 
I S3 1. The first court held was a called session of the circuit 
court, on the 36th day of April, 1821, with the late Gov. John 
Reynolds as circuit judge. Thomas Carlin, for one term gov- 
ernor of the State, was sheriff; Samuel Lee, Jr., clerk, and 
Jacob Waggoner, coroner. Of the first grand jury called, Gen. 
Jacob Fr}' is the sole survivor — Cyrus Tolman, another mem- 
ber, having died the present year. 

The first session of the county commissioners' court was held 
in Carrollton on the first day of May, 1S31, and there were 
present John Allen, Jehu Brown and Seymour Kellogg as com- 
missioners, and Samuel Lee, Jr., was appointed clerk. At this 
session the commissioners to locate the seat of justice reported, 
under date of February 30, 1821. This report was signed by 
Thomas Carlin, John Allen, Thomas Rattan and John Huitt. 
Of these, John Huitt is the sole survivor. The county-seat was 
located at Carrollton, on land donated to tiie new county by 
Thomas Carlin. At this session John Wilkins was licensed to 
keep a tavern on the Fiasa, about one mile south of Delhi. 
In later times Mr. Wilkins was known to many of the citi- 
zens of this county as tke father-in-law of Perley Sillo- 
way, one of our early sheriflfs. Twenty lots owned by the 
county in the town of Carrollton were ordered to be sold. At 
the regular June term of this court, held on the 4th of June, 



History of Jersey County. ii 

1 82 1, the county was laid off into military districts. The first 
district is described as follows: Beginning at the southwest 
corner of the county, thence north and east with the county 
line to the southeast corner of township 7, range 10 west; thence 
north to the line between towns 7 and 8; thence west to (^tter 
creek and down the same to the Illinois river; thence down the 
river to the place of beginning. It will be noticed that this 
company district included the present towns of Grafton, Otter- 
ville, Newbern, Delhi and Brighton — a large field froin which 
to gather a militia company. The second companv district to 
consist of township 8 north and ranges 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 
west (including the present towns of Fidelity, Jerseyville and 
Fieldon — the most populous parts of Jersey county). Elections 
were ordered in each of the company districts for one captain, 
one first lieutenant and one ensign. John D. Gillham, John 
Waddle and Samuel Kinkead were appointed judges of that 
election, which was ordered to be held at the house of Thomas 
G. Lofton. Gershom Patterson, William Adair and Nathaniel 
Rowdon were appointed judges of the election in the second 
district, and this election was to be held at the house of John 
Thornton. 

At this session Ira Kelley, Samuel Kinkead and Jehu Brown 
were recommended to the governer (Shadrach Bond) as suitable 
persons for the office of justice of the peace. On the 6th of 
June the court proceeded to lay off all that part of the county 
lying south of the line line between townships 7 and 8, with the 
attached parts, into one township, to be called Otter Creek ; and 
all south of the Macoupin and north of Otter Creek, with its 
attached parts, into one township, to be called Macoupin town- 
ship. John Findley and John Wilkins were appointed over- 
seers of the poor in Otter Creek township, and Abiram McKin- 
ney and Joseph Piggott were appointed overseers of the poor 
in Macoupin township. 

Jurors were selected at this term for the ensuinsr term of the 
circuit court^ and I find the following named residents of what 
is now Jersey county: Ezekiel Gillham, VVm. Davidson, Ger- 
shom Patterson, John D. Gillham, James Whitesides and Philip 
Grimes. All these I have known personally, though some of 
them passed long ago from the scenes of earth, and none of 
them are living to-day. 



12 History OF Jersey County. 

At a special term of the county court, held on the 13th of 
June, Gershom Flagg, father of the Hon. W. C. Flagg, of 
Madison county, was allowed six dollars for surveying the town 
of Carrollton. 

During the summer, or the preceding one, a bold and daring 
robbery was committed in the night time, at the house of an 
English family by the name of Dixon, then residing where Ad- 
dison Greene, Esq., now lives. Wm. B. Whitesides, then sheriff 
of Madison county, and Maj. Robert Sinclair, were identified as 
principals, and the sum taken was something over $i,300. An 
alarm was made, pursuit was instituted, and the robbers were 
apprehended. But, through the assistance of friends and con- 
federates, the supposed guilty parties ultimately escaped. Sin- 
clair was tried, found guilty and escaped before sentence, at 
Carrollton, at May term of the circuit court in 1823. The peo- 
ple's witnesses were Wm. Dixon, John G. Lofton, James Barnes, 
Thomas G. Lofton, Wm. Davidson, Ezekiel Gillham, John 
Findley, Wm. Finkard, Henry Hopkinson, Charles Gear and 
Joab White. Wm. B. Whitesides forfeited bail, but his securi- 
ties afterward bringing him into court, he w^as discharged with- 
out trial. He had worn out or bought off the principals in the 
prosecution, and so was allowed to go " scot free." Sinclair 
was afterward heard of in Arkansas, a member of the territorial 
legislature. This affair created an intense excitement at the 
time, and was the talk of the country for ten years after. 

Hon. Joseph Philips was judge of the circuit court at the 
spring term of 1822. At the October term of that year Thomas 
Reynolds was judge, and again at the spring term of 1823. In 
the September term of 1823, and then until the May term of 
1825, John Reynolds was judge. From the latter date until 
the April term of 1827, John York Sawyer was judge. From 
this date until Jersey county was organized, Samuel D. Lock- 
wood was judge. John G. Lofton was the first probate judge, 
as I find an allowance made him of $30.12 1-2, in full for his 
service as judge of probate until he went out of office, and $5 
for recording deeds. This was at the December term of the 
county court in 1822. He had been in that year a candidate for 
lieutenant-governor. Among the jurors for the spring term of 
the circuit court in 1822, I find the names of Edward Carroll, 
Joseph White, Robert Avery, Joseph Piggott and John Gunter- 



History of Jersey County. 13 

man, who resided in the south part of the county. In August 
of that year I find that Joseph Piggott, Thomas Arnett and 
Charles Gregory were elected county commissioners. Their 
first term commenced on the second day of September, 1822. 
At the March term of 1823 Joseph White and Benjamin Brown 
were appointed overseers of the poor for Macoupin township, 
and John D. Gillham and Joab White for Otter Creek township. 
In September, 1824, Jehu Brown, Abraham Bowman and 
Charles Gregory were present as commissioners. March, 1825, 
Josiah T. Askew and were appointed over- 
seers of the poor for Otter Creek township, and Major Dodson 
and Alexander Smith for Macoupin township. June, 1826, 
Otter Creek election precinct, John G. Lofton, John McDow 
and Thomas Cummings, judges of election, and the election to 
be held at the house of John G. Lofton. Elections for Macou- 
pin precinct to be held at the house of Francis Colean, with 
Samuel Gates, Nathaniel Rowdon and Alexander Smith, judges. 
Joseph Piggott, Jeremiah Smith and Jehu Brown appear as 
commissioners at the September term of 1826. 

In June, 1827, the south part of Greene county was redis- 
tricted, as follows: Otter Creek district includes all that part of 
Green county lying south of the line dividing townships 7 and 8 
north, elections to be held at the house of Samuel A. Lofton. 
The judges of election were John McDow, John G. Lofton and 
Walter Cresswell. Richwood's district is bounded as follows: 
Beginning at the southeast corner of township 8 north, range 12 
west; thence north to the northeast corner of said township; 
thence west to Macoupin creek, and down said creek to the Illi- 
nois river; thence down said river to the line between 7 and 8; 
thence east to the place of beginning. Elections to be held at 
the house of Abraham Borer, with Gershom Patterson, Daniel 
Cox and Dennis Carrico as judges. Macoupin district to in- 
clude all the rest of the territory south of the Macoupin creek 
lying in Greene county. Elections to be held at the house of 
Lewis Means, with C. J. Gardiner, John Green and Alexander 
Smith as judges. 

At the September term of 1828, John Barnett, Alexander 
King and Charles Gregory appear as commissioners. This leit 
the territory south of the Macoupin without a representative 
in the county court. In the next election this was rectified, for 



14 History of Jersey County. 

in September, 1830, Cyrus Tolman, Thomas Cummings and 
Cavil Archer appear as commissioners. 

At the June term, 1S31, the following persons were appointed 
judges of election: Otter Creek precinct — Jasper Terry, John 
D. Gillham and John McDow; Richwood's precinct — Gershom 
Patterson, Matthew Darr and Francis Colean. Ordered, that 
Otter Creek District for the election of justices and constables, 
be divided as follows: Commencing at the corner between sec- 
tions 36 and 31, from thence on a direct line to the southwest 
corner of T. 7 N. R. 11 west; from thence due north to the 
southwest corner of section 16, in town 8, N. R. 1 1 west; thence 
due east to the county line; thence south to the southeast corner 
of said county; thence due west to the place of beginning; and 
that the foregoing bounds shall constitute a separate district, to be 
called the Piasa district; and it is further ordered that the election 
be held at the house of John Wilkins, in said district, and John 
Wilkins, William Draper and James Simmons were appointed 
judges of election. Woodbury Massey was licensed to sell 
goods for one year from April 27, 1S31. Elections for Otter 
Creek district to be held at the house of George Slaten. These 
items are given to show who were living here, and to show how 
thinly the land was settled. 

In September of this year occurred one of the vilest murders 
ever recorded in the annals of the county. Samuel Lofton, son 
of John Lofton, now residing near Fieldon, in this county, a 
young lad, was sent from the Macoupin to Mills's store, on the 
Mississippi river, to collect a small sum of money, which he did. 
On his return he fell in, at Carroll's tan-yard, with an Irishman 
who went by the name of James Sullivan, who got up to ride 
with him; and on the way, when fairly out of sight, the boy 
was killed and the money (fifteen dollars) was taken from him. 
The murderer escaped. This was Saturday evening. The boy's 
parents supposed he had stopped with friends near Gillham's 
Mound, and were not uneasy about hmn until the days wore 
away and no tidings came; then search was made, and the vul- 
tures guided to his remains. I was present when the inquest 
was held by Coroner P. N. Rampey, and saw the burial which 
followed. The next spring Sullivan was apprehended in New 
Orleans, brought back to Carrollton, tried, convicted and exe- 



History of Jersey County. 15 

cuted, giving as his true name Patrick Cavenaugh. He was the 
first man hung for murder in Greene county. 

The county clerk having died, Edward D. Baker was, at the 
June term, appointed clerk pro tem.' Roads from Eminence and 
the mouth of the IlHnois river ordered viewed. Woodbury 
Massey and George Finney were severally licensed to sell goods. 
James Mason was authori/x'tl to keep a terry, S. 15, T. 6, R. la- 
in December Gregg McDaniel and George Smith took out mer- 
chants' license. In June, 1S33 Hugh McGiil paid merchant's 
license, and Thomas Barnett was allowed to erect a mill on 
Otter creek; and in September, iS33,J. Daggett, Evan Blair 
and T. W. Whiting were appointed trustees of school lands in 
T. 6, R. 12 W. 

The year 1S34 brought in Thomas McDow to the county 
court in place of Thomas Cummings, and Cavil Archer in place 
of Alex. King; and these were continued as commissioners until 
1S3S — a term of four years. It was during this period that the 
principal industry of the country became the laying off of paper' 
towns and speculating in corner lots. The wildest schemes were 
advocated with impunity, and fortunes were made or lost as 
men could be found to contribute to the general mania. This 
was the case not onlv in Jersey county, but all over the State. 
I have not the dates before me of but a very few of these towns. 
Camden, at the mouth of the Illinois river, is probably the 
oldest, having been surveyed March 11, 1832, but prior to that 
I. N. Piggott had begun a town called Eminence, on the Mis- 
sissippi river. I am not certain that it was ever laid off and the 
plat recorded. We ha\e seen that James Mason had established 
a ferry at Grafion, m 1S32. From small beginnings the land 
was cleared and the town of Grafton was surveyed — the atlas 
says in April, 1836, while, if I had testified from memory, I 
should have given the date at least two years earlier. At the 
session of the legislature in the winter of 1834, a charter was 
procured for the Grafton Manufacturing Company, with James 
Mason, Silas Hamilton and others as corporators. This com- 
pany was not organized during the lifetime of the corporators. 
Jerseyville was laid off by Lott Sc Daley, October ist, 1834, 
and having the county-seat established here probably saved it 
from the death of the rest of the paper towns. As a matter of 
curiosity, I may be permitted to name a few of these speculative 



i6 History of Jersey County. 

ventures. Beginning at the southeast corner of the county, we 
have Randolph; next a multitude of additions to Grafton; Nev^- 
bern — not the Newhern of to-day, but another lying somewhere 
near two miles to the southwest. Upper Grafton, Hartford, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburg, TenerifFe, Salisbury and Delaware are 
now recalled as being the outcropping of this branch of indus- 
try. The United States Bank was about winding up, and the 
other banks issued floods of paper; prices of labor rose, and 
along with it all the commodities that go into trade, includ- 
ing clothing and subsistence, until, instead of being producers, 
we became importers of bread. Prudent people foresaw the 
result, and kept out of debt, but the speculators were almost 
universally crushed. Corner lots became a drug in the market, 
the paper towns dried up, and with a few exceptions have so re- 
mained unto this day. If there had been gas and moonshine in 
the time of speculation, it was not so in the result. The distress 
was real. And in the breaking down of these speculative for- 
tunes many good people were carried away in the wreck. The 
crash came in February, 1S37. This ended town-making and 
town speculations, so far as Jersey county is concerned. 

But during this period of speculation there had been some 
substantial progress made. Farms had been commenced, new 
and better houses were going up, barns here and there were 
visible; still there was not, after the crash, much money, and the 
little in the hands of the people was of very uncertain value. 
Then followed the days of internal improvement by the State;, 
and because Greene county was not on any of the projected 
lines of road, she took her share of the spoils in money, and 
prudently loaned it out. One-third of this came to Jersey, and 
was by her carefully expended upon the three principal thor- 
oughfares within her own borders. By the side of present 
taxes it is only a drop, but in the ddy of which I speak, $6,000 
was a ver3' considerable sum of money. 

The vote on the separation of Jersey from Greene occurred 
August 5th, 1S39, and is thus entered on the records: 

Vote for the erection of Jersey county 1239' 

Vote against the erection of Jersey county 714 

Majority for 525 

But what of religious culture and of education at this time? 
At this date the religious element gathered only in two churches,. 



History OF Jersey County. 17 

\vith a single exception — the Methodists and Baptists. 1 have 
not the dates for the organization of the Methodist classes, but 
presume, from the families who came here, that there must have 
been a Methodist class in the neighborhood of the Gillham 
camp ground in 1820. The first Baptist church south of the 
Macoupin was organized at the house of Judge Jehu Brown, in 
November, 1S33, and this is now known as the Kane Baptist 
Church. A second Baptist church was organized at the house 
of Judge Lofton, on the 25th of Februar}^, 1S37, known as the 
Salem Baptist Church. At a somewhat later day a Baptist 
chm-ch was organiz-ed on Borer's creek, but it became extinct, 
and so remained until rallied bv Elder J. V. Rhoads, about 1S39, 
and this church is now known as the Lebanon Baptist Church. 
Among the preachers of an early day were the brothers Joseph 

and 1. X. Piggott, C.J. Gardiner, Miles, Otwell, 

and Phelps, for the jMethodists; and Elders John Clark, Sears 
Crane, ]VIajor Dodson and his sons Elijah and Fletcher, for the 
Baptists. On the i ^th of February, 1S34, Revs. Thomas Lip- 
pincott and Elisba Jenney organized, at the house of the late 
N. L. Adams, a Presbyterian church, with eighteen members. 
And these were all the organized churches in the present bounds 
of Jersey county, at the date of the organization of said county 
in 1S39. But there was not a meeting-house, a building erected 
exclusively for public worship, in the whole county. Of course 
croakers bewail the lack of sociability and the hospitality of the 
pioneer times, but they would hardly be willing to go back to 
the sermons in jorivate houses, with the auditor seated on a rail 
or slab bench through the time of a two-hours' discourse, and 
yet these were among the luxuries of the good old pioneer days. 
We say nothing of the preaching, as to style or quality, save 
that it was adapted to the culture of the times. 

But what of education, and where were school-houses then.'' 
Very few were they. At Grafton a modest frame building of 
one story, another at Jerseyville, another in Lofton's Prairie, 
with perhaps a half-dozen more in prairies round about, and in 
the woody regions log houses of most primitive style in point of 
construction. And all these had been erected by the voluntary 
labor and contributions of the people. No tax had then been 
levied — the common school system of Illinois had then no ex- 



1 8 History OF Jersey County. 

istence. To this general statement there was one exception. 
The late Silas Hamilton, dying in November, 1834, left $4,000 
for the benefit of his friends and relatives in his neighborhood, 
$2,000 for the erection of a school-house large enough for a 
place of public worship, and $2,000 for the endowment of a 
primary school. This building was erected by his executors 
upon the ground selected by himself, in the summer of 1835, 
and in June, 1836, the first school was begun, sustained in part 
by subscriptions and in part by the interest of the endowment 
fund. Hence this school is now forty years old, and has been> 
until the establishment of graded schools under the common 
school law, the foremost school of the county. 

Having thus given a slight survey of the situation, let us now 
return to the history of Jersey county, beginning with its organ- 
ization in the fall of 1839. Jersey ville had been incorporated as 
a town for about two years, or from July, 1S37. 

October 14, 1S39, the county commissioners' court met. Pres- 
ent — Thomas Cummings, Solomon Calhoun and Amos Pruitt, 
commissioners. Richard Graham not having filed his bond, R. L. 
Hill was appointed clerk pro tem. George H. Jackson gave 
bond as recorder, Joseph Crabb as school commissioner. J. N. 
English had been elected sheriff and John R. Black treasurer; 
N. R. Lenton, coroner. E. M. Daley was authorized to buy 
books for the county, R. L. Hill to buy a stove for the office, 
and Solomon Calhoun and R. L. Hill to build a clerk's office on 
the square. Two weeks thereafter, (October 28), Richard Gra- 
ham filed his bond, and was duly installed as clerk. 

At the regular term, December 2d, Thomas Cummings drew 
the short term, one year, Calhoun two years, and Pruitt three 
years. Peyton C. Walker built the clerk's office for $220, to be 
paid for in eleven orders. At this time the grand and petit 
jurors were allowed 75 cents per day each, and the Backxcoods- 
man office received $5.50 for printing blanks. Thomas Vance 
was appointed agent to loan internal improvement fund. The 
county was divided into seven precirrcts: Phills Creek — David 
Myers, Josiah Jackson and Elijah Barnes, judges of election; 
Jerseyville — John Anderson, Robert B. Robbins and George H. 
Collins, do.; Richwood's — Thomas Vance, Stephen M. Richey 
and Reuben S. Spencer, do.; Delhi — Wm. Draper, Wm. Hack- 



History of Jersey County. 19 

ney and James Cummings, do. ; Mississippi — John D. Gillham, 
David A. Thompson and Chancey Brown, do.; Otter Creek — 
Thomas Hamilton, James Dougherty and Coe Edsall, do. ; IIH- 
nois — David Utt, Thomas Johnson and Samuel Hoye, do. 

The circuit court held a special session on the day of 

; Hon. Wm. Thomas, judge, and Robert L. Hill, clerk. 

The following served as grand jurors: Elijah Van Home, fore- 
man; Wm. Draper, John D. Gillham, Thomas Hamilton, Sam- 
uel L. McGill, James Davis, John Corson, George Hoffman, 
Josiah Rhoads, John Hawkins, Henry Coonrod, Mebane An- 
derson, John Kimball, George Smith, John Brown and Robert 
B. Robbins. This session was for one day only. Judge 
Thomas remained on the bench until the spring of 1841. He 
was succeeded by Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood. 

At a called session of the county court held on the 13th day 
of January, 1840, Elijah Van Home, Solomon Calhoun and 
Thomas L. McGill were appointed a building committee for the 
new court-house, and the plan submitted to the court was ap- 
proved, but on the 4th of June following the plan was with- 
drawn and a new one substituted. 

In the August election of 1S40, Chauncey Brown and Cyrus 
Tolman were elected commissioners. John N. English was re- 
elected sheriff, George W. Lowder was elected collector, and 
Aaron Rue, coroner; and in March following it was entered of 
record that the court was satisfied with the action of Jersey ville 
on the court-house question. At this session Joseph Crabb was 
removed from the office of school commissioner, and R. L. Hill 
was appointed, but refused to serve. On the 21st of June Jos- 
eph Crabb was reinstated. At this session Grafton was made 
an election precinct, and John Keyes, Paris Mason and William 
Williams were appointed judges. August 14, 1841, George H. 
Pigues filed his bond and look the oath as school commissioner; 
September 8, 1841, he resigned, and James Harriott was ap- 
pointed, gave bond and took the oath of office. Solomon Cal- 
houn was assessor, and George W. Lowder was collector. 

The first five marriages recorded are as follow: John P. All- 
corn to Mary Hawkins, Oct. 17, 1839, by David Myers, J. P.; 
Thos. Jackson to Rebecca Cowan, Oct. 17, 1839, by David Myers, 
J. P.; David Arnspiger to Jane Stephens, Oct. 20, 1839, by Da- 



20 History of Jersey County. 

vid Myers, J. P.; Nathan C. Swann to Mary Ann Patton, Oct. 
31, 1839, by John Keyes, J. P.; James G. Swann to EHzabeth 
A. Rallston, Oct. 31, 1S39, by John Keyes, J. P. 

In September, 1842, Wm. Pahner appeared as county com- 
missioner, James Harriott filed his bond as collector, and Coe 
Edsall as assessor. September 25th, 1S43, Thomas Carroll was 
sworn in as county commissioner, Thomas L. McGill was elected 
recorder, and Coe Edsall assessor, and George W. Lowder was 
elected county clerk and took the oath of office. August, 1S44, 
Maurice Armstrong was elected county commissioner; August,. 
1S45, Ambrose Wyckoff, do.; August, 1S46, Benjamin Cleaver, 
do.; August, 1S47, James McKinney, do. 

The election for members of the constitutional convention 
was held in April of this year, and Dr. A. R. Knapp and Wm. 
Bosbyshell were elected for Jersey and Calhoun, over David E. 
Brown, Benj. F. Child and E. A. D'Arcy. On the accession of 
Judge Lockwood, R. L. Hill was reappointed as clerk of the 
circuit court, and at the spring term of 1841 J. A, Chesnut was 
appointed prosecuting attorney pro tem. 

In August, 1842, Perley Silloway was elected sheriff, and 
John Brittain, coroner. In August, 1844, they were re-elected, 
and in August, 1S46, Jonathan Plowman was elected sheriff, 
and George Hoffman, coroner. In 1848 Plowman was re- 
elected, and Wm. Loy, coroner. At the September term of 
that year Judge Lockwood retired from the bench, and the bar 
called a meeting and expressed regret ; and in May, Hon. David M- 
Woodson went on the bench as judge of the circuit court. In 
the following election, Murray Cheney was elected sherifT, and 
Tnomas L. McGill, clerk of the circuit court. In August, 1S53, 
Smith, a murderer, moved his case to Scott county, and was there 
convicted and hung. In 1S52 Thomas L. McGill was re-elected 
circuit clerk, and J. M. Hurd, sheriff. In 1S54 Jonathan Plow- 
man was again elected sheriff, and Benjamin Wedding, coroner. 
In 18^6 Benjamin Wedding was elected sheriff, T. L. McGill, 
clerk, and Felix Burney, coroner. In 1S5S Charles H. Bowman 
was elected sheriff. In i860 Marcus E. Bagley was elected circuit 
clerk, Wm. H. Cummings, sheriff, and Lewis Johnson, coroner. 
In 1863 C. H. Bowman was again elected sheriff, and James L. 
Beirne, coroner. In 1S64 Marcus E, Bagley was again elected 



History of Jersey County. 21 

clerk, Thomas J. Selby, sheriff, F. W. Besterfeldt, coroner. M. E. 
Bagley was appointed master in chancery in April, 1S67. In June, 
1S67, the Hon. Charles D. Hodges was elected jiu'ge of the cir- 
cuit court. In the preceding election (November, 1866) C. H. 
Bowman was again elected shei'iff. In 1 868 James Henry Belt 
was elected sheriff, Sidney Noble, coroner, M. E. Bagley, cir- 
cuit clerk, and a reappointment made for him as master in chan- 
cery. In 1870 Stephen H. Bowman was elected sheriff, and 
E. L. Herriott, coroner. In 1S72 C. H. Bowman was rc-eiected 
sheriff, E. L. Herriott, coroner, and M. E. Bagley, circuit clerk. 

Charles H. Bowman dying on the da}^ of , Stephen 

H., his son, was elected to fill the unexpired term, on the 15th 
of February, 1873. In November, 1874, Augustus H. Barrett 
was elected sheriff, and is the present incumbent of that office. 
Turn we to the records of the county court, and resume with 
the adoption of the constitution in 184S. In the election of that 
year James A. Piggott was chosen commissioner, and served 
until December, 1S49, when George E. Warren entered upon 
duty as judge, with James McKinney and Jacob Lurton as asso- 
ciates. This court continued until the close of 1852, with Geo. 
W. Lewder as clerk. In 1853 Judge Warren was re-elected. 
Jasper M. Terry and Charles H. Bowman were elected associ- 
ates. In 1856 J. Murray Bacon was elected associate in place of 
C. H. Bowman. In 1857 O. P. Powe)l was elected judge, and 
R. R. Eley and Wm. Williams, associates; Andrew Jackson, 
clerk, and J. F. Smith, treasurer. In 1861 Richard I. Lowe was 
elected judge, Jacob Lurton and Larkin Richardson, associates, 
Andrew Jackson, clerk, and John E. Van Pelt, treasurer. In 
1S65 Judge O. P. Powell was again elected judge, William H. 
Allen and Phineas Eldridge, associates; Andrew Jackson, cleii:. 
In 1869 J. M. Hurd was elected Judge, Caleb Noble and G. W. 
Gorin, associates, and Thomas J. Selby, clerk. In December, 
1873, Robert A. King was appointed and commissioned bv the 
governor to fill the unexpired term of J. M. Hurd. In 1873 
Wm. H. Allen, I. R. Eley and Edward Colean were elected 
commissioners; Robert A. King, judge; Thomas J. Selby^ 
clerk; James M. Young, treasurer. In 1874 G. S. Compton 
was elected commissioner, and in 1875 Wm. H. Fulkerson was 
elected commissioner, and John Stout, treasurer. This brings 
the list of county ofiicers to date. 



22 History of Jersey County. 

The first session of the circuit court was held in the old school- 
house; the second session was held in the First Presbyterian 
church, which at that time was neither plastered nor seated. 
The court-house was built in 1S40, and cost about $6,000. 
Among the records I find a second subscription, made in 1840^ 
because the first had not been large enough to cover the cost of 
the building. Additions, repairs and improvements have been 
made from time to time, until, without being extravagant or 
pretentious, it presents an appearance of neatness and comfort un- 
surpassed by any county building of the same age, within the circle 
of my acquaintance. Some sixteen or seventeen years after the 
courthouse was built, the county erected two fire-proof offices 
for the records of the two courts. And while these improve- 
ments have been going on about the square, it must be borne in 
mind that the general average of farm-buildings, school-houses 
and churches have more than kept pace with the county build- 
ings. When I came into this county, in 1831, there were only 
two brick buildings in it — one belonging to Maj. Patterson, 
which was blown down by a tornado in that same summer; the 
other, built by John D. Gillham, in the summer of 1S30, is still 
standing, and is now forty-six years old. There wery very few 
frame houses and still fewer frame barns in the whole county. 

No one of the present generation can imagine the beauty of 
this wilderness, who did not pass over it in that early day. 
There can be no doubt, I apprehend, that still greater changes 
will be manifest in the forty-five years to come, when, instead 
of one railway, you will have them reaching out from your 
beautiful county -seat in every direction. 

The fiscal statement of June, 1S48, after the county had been 
organized nearly nine years, shows the following footings: 

Amount of orders issued during the fiscal year $4,538.80 

Amount of orders paid, including cash in treasury 4,538.80 

Of course the cash on hand was but a small part of this latter 
amount. But seven years later a very considerable advance had 
been made, as the following will show. In 1855 the levy stood: 

For State purposes $7,485.29 

For County purposes 6,073.48 

For Special purposes 2,350.86 

Total $15,909.63 

To show the advance in the science of taxation, I now give 



History of Jersey County 23 

the list for 1S57. Total value of real and personal, $2,374,735, 
of which lands and town lots were $1,725,295. On this valua- 
tion the state tax was $11,161.25; the county, $9,498.94; school, 
$4,749.27, and special tax, $17,227,67, making a total of $42,- 
637.33 — nearly a three-fold increase in the space of two yearS' 
Eight years later we find the wealth still increasing, for in 1865 
the levy made this showing: For state, $18,581.06; county, 
$34,104.30; school, district, etc., $13,459.28, making a total 
of $66,144.64 — a gain of over fourteen thousand in eight 
years. At this time there were 29,802 acres of wheat in culti- 
vation, 20,785 acres of corn, and 4,771 of other field products. 
But in four years a large advance was made. In 1869 the 
account stood: State taxes, $39i75i'97, and the county $50,- 
848.99, making a total for the year of $90,600.96 — a gain of 
nearly $24,000 in four years. However, the account for 1872 
shows that the capacity for taxing had not been exhausted ; then 
the state tax was $24,731.70, and the county levy was $77,829.96 
— making a total of $102,561.67. 

The services of judges of probate were for the following 
times : 

Joseph G. Scott, from October, 1839, to September, 1847. 

J. M. Hurd, from September i, 1817, to December, 1849. 

Geo. E. Warren, from December, 1849, to December, 1857. 

O. P. Powell, do 

R. I. Lowe, do 

O. P. Powell, do 

J. M. Hurd, do 

Robert A. King, do 1S72, to the present time. 

There have been five county clerks since the organization ot 
the county, viz. : 

R. L. Hill, whose term of service was 2 weeks, October, 1839. 
Richard Graham, do do 4 years, or until 1843. 

George W. Lowder, do do 14 do 1S57. 

Andrew Jackson, do do 12 do 1869. 

Thomas J. Selby, do do 7 years, and is the pres- 

ent incumbent. 

Since 1839 there have been but three clerks of the circuit 
court— Robert L. Hill, Thomas L. McGill, and Marcus E. 
Bagley. The latter is the present incumbent, and will doubt- 
less be his own successor. 



IS57, 


do 


I86I, 


1S61, 


do 


1865, 


1865, 


do 


1869, 


1869, 


do 


1872, 



24 History of Jersey County. 

Jersey county, at the time of its organization, was a whig 
county, having a majority in favor of that party of about one 
hundred and fifty. But while this was true, the democrats 
always had a fair proportion of the offices, elected generally in 
consequence of the personal popularity of the candidates. On 
the disruption of the old whig party the democracy' came into 
power, and have uniformly carried the elections ever since. An 
exception to this occurred two years ago, but that was a division 
on purely local questions. The following, copied from the elec- 
tion returns, will give a fair idea of the status of parties and of 
the growth of population at the same time. I give the vote of 
Jersey ville in 1S37: 

July 1 — E. M. Daley, Milo Bennett and Mun-ay Cheney, judges, and Jos. 
G. Scott and Joel Corey, clerks. 

John Shaw, for representative, had 64 votes. 

John Greene, " " 50 " 

Total 114 votes. 

August 6, 1838 — Milo Bennett, Thos. Cumming's and George H. Collins, 
judges; Peter Perrine and John Lmberger, clerks. 

Cyrus Edwards, for governor, had 88 votes, 

Thomas Cavlin, " 78 

Total 166 votes. 

Steohen A. Doughxs, for representative in congress 80 votes. 

John T. Stuart, '• " 85 " 

Total '. 165 votes. 

October 7, 1839 — John Anderson, Geo. W. Lowder and Geo. H. Collins, 
judges; R. L. Hill and Peter Machener, clerks. 

John N. English, for sheritf '. 164 yotes. 

George W. Lucas " " 141 

W. D. F. Slaten 20, Irwin Little 7, and Joseph Piggott 7 34 votes. 

Total 339 votes. 

Joseph G. Scott, for judge of probate 197 votes. 

Isaac Darnielle, " " " 142 

Total 339 votes. 

1840~John Anderson, Geo. H. Collins and Penuel Corbett, judges; J. C. 
Graham and James Harriott, clerks. 

David M. Woodson, for representative 228 votes. 

A. W. Cavalry, " " 143 " 

Total 371 yotes. 

Wm. H. Harrison, for president 230 votes. 

M. VanBuren 150 " 

Total 380 votes. 



History of Jersey County. 25 

To impart an idea of the growth of the county, I will now 
give, by precincts, the votes for two years, with an interval of 
thirty-two years between: 

1842. 1874. 



Ford. Duncan. 

Jer.sevville, first poll 119 ho 

Jersevvillc, second poll 63 115 

OtterCreck S 62 

Piasa 67 93 

Kichwoods 97 16 

Graft.. n 18 36 

Fhilo CreL'k 11 42 

Illinois 26 41 

Mississippi *> 41! 

Total 415 n3l 

Scattering -7 

• otal voie^for governor 973 



Wike. Beattv. 

.lereeyville, east 221 387 

Jersevville, west 3-V2 •26(j 

Grafton 251 114 

Kichwoods 156 78 

Otter ereek 57 137 

Mississippi 46 65 

.lersey Landing Ill !t6 

Piasa 88 91 

Delhi ... 90 54 

Phills Creek 118 106 

Illinois 37 ■49 

Total 1520 1343 



It will be seen from this that the entire vote of the county in 
1842 was not equal to the vote of Jerseyville precinct in 1S74, 
while in the county the vote has nearly trebled in that space of 
time. My recollection, however, is that the vote of 1842 was 
not a very full one, and the same would probably hold good of 
the vote in 1874. It would be a very safe estimate to put the 
vote of the county at 3,200 to 3,300. The population, by 
census returns, stands very nearly in the same ratio: 1840, 
4,535; 1850, 7,354; i860, 12,061; 1870, 15,054. Gain in the 
first decade, 62 per cent.; in the second, 63, and in the third, 24 
per cent. Taking the last as the probable increase since, and 
we should have a population a little less than 17.000. To one 
who has known this county for nearly a half century, the 
changes are marvelous indeed. Following the atlas, I find the 
number of voters to be 3,579, as given in 1870; 2,856 dwellings, 
1,044 f^rms, 87,895 acres of improved land; while the wheat 
produced was 514,840 bushels, and of corn, 587,945; of oats, 
73,120. Yet fifty years ago there was not one thousand acres 
of land in cultivation in the entire county. There are parties 
here now living, who were here then; as for example, our fel- 
low-citizen, J. T. Grimes, who was born fifty-six years ago, in 
sight of this ground on which we stand to-day; or Marcus Gill- 
ham, who was not quite nine years old when he came into this 
county, and has been a resident here for the last fifty-seven 
years; or Wm. McDow, who was also born in Madison county, 
and is now sixty-eight years old, and has resided continuously in 
the county for the last fifty-two years. 



26 History of Jersey County. 

The following is the list of representatives and senators in the 
state legislature, with the dates of election: 

Repkesentatives — Samuel T. Kendall, 1842; James Harriott, 1844; 
Thomas Cumming's, 1846; Isaac Darneille, 1848; L. F. McCrillis. 1854; 
Wright Casey, 1856; J. N. English. 1860; same. 1862; R. M. Knapp, 1866; 
Thomas B. Fuller. 1868; Geo. W. Herdman. 1870; Robert A. King, 1870; 
Wm. McAdams. Jr., 1872; 0. P. Powell. 1874. 

State Senators. — A. L. Knapp, 1858; Wm. Shephard, 1866 and 1870, 
Mr. Shepherd resigned during the last term, and Wm. H. Allen was 
elected to fill out the remaining time. 

In 1836 there was formed in Lofton's prairie the first anti- 
slavery society in all this region Of country. Thomas McDow 
was the first president, and James Brown was secretary. In 
May, 1837, Owen Lovejoy made a speech before that society, al 
a meeting held in Lofton's prairie, and this speech was probably 
the first ever made by him in the State — it was not the last by 
several hundred! Connected with the agitation of those times, 
was more or less excitement in regard to an " underground rail- 
road," having a principal depot at Jersey ville, and branches ex- 
tending into the various settlements of the county. It was even 
thought that some of the citizens of the county knew more of 
these dark practices than good, law-abiding people should. In 
those days the anti-slavery agitators went a step further, by dis- 
solving their connection with existing parties and starting one 
of their own. In the 'contest of 1844, if the liberty party did 
not poll as many votes as the others, they made quite as much 
noise and attracted as much attention as any other party. How 
wisely they labored and prayed and suffered, history can now 
assure us. Certainly, among my treasures thei^e is no relic 
which I value higher than the records of the Lofton Prairie 
Anti-Slavery Society. Ver}' many of that society passed away 
before the agitation of their time had culminated in the war of 
the rebellion. 

In the Mexican war Jersey county had no organized repre- 
sentation. Several of her sons entered the ranks and did good 
service for their country in helping forward the conquest of 
• Mexico. Their names and their number are to me unknown, 
save in part, and hence I omit their mention altogether, lest the 
omission of some equally worthy should be construed into 
studied forgetful ness. But in the more recent war of the rebel- 
lion we are under no necessity of passing over the distinguished 



History of Jersey County. 27 

services of her sons, for here Jersey county was represented in 
organized bodies ot volunteers — in the 14th regiment by com- 
pany F, led into the field by Captain, afterward General, S. M. 
Littlefield; part of company D, in the 27th regiment, by Lieu- 
tenant Brock; in the 6ist regiment by company C, by Captains 
Warren Ihrie and John T, Hesser; by company D, led by Cap- 
tains John H. Reddish and Daniel S. Keeley, the latter of whom 
was promoted to the rank of major; in the 97th regiment by 
company K, led by Captain B. F. Slaten, and company H, by 
Captain Mortimer B. Scott; in the 124th by part of company C, 
led by Lieutenant Terry; in the 12th cavalry by part of com- 
pany B, beside large numbers scattered through various com- 
mands, some of whom were found in other States. From the 
enrollment of 1S62 I find that Jersey county had 1,984 inen lia- 
ble to military duty, of which number 73S were then actually in 
the service. I may, in this connection, remark that every de- 
mand was met and every quota filled to the close of the war, 
notwithstanding the situation of the county on the border of the 
State, and the frequent presence on her soil of armed bands of 
guerrillas, horse-thieves and robbers. In looking back over the 
situation in those troublous times, we wonder that on the whole 
:so few lives were sacrificed in the conflict of the angry and dis- 
•cordant elements. It speaks well for the conservative influence 
of the sober, thoughtful people of the county, that the peace of 
■domestic life was so well preserved. 

If Jersey county cannot boast of a long line of military heroes, 
•she can show that, for age and population, she is not behind any 
of her sisters in the matter of success in the civil service— -in 
the constitutional convention of 1847, having been represented 
by Dr. A. R. Knapp; in that of 1862 by the Hon. William H. 
Allen; in that of 1S70 by Geo. W. Herdman. She has furnished 
ii representative in congress for six years in the persons of the 
brothers Anthony L. and Robert M. Knapp, both of whom are 
still in the service of the country — the latter as Mayor of this 
beautiful city of Jerseyville, and the other at the capital of the 
-State as a lawyer of distinguished success. 

Forty-five years ago there was but one post-oflice in the pres- 
ent limits of Jersey county, and this was at Eminence, kept by 
I. N. Piggott. At a later date this was moved to Newbern 



28 History of Jersey County. 

and its name changed; but prior to this removal Otter Creek 
post-office was established, and T. F. Brock was appointed post- 
master, but this office was turned over to Newbern, and there- 
fore discontinued. The second, in point of time, was at Kane, 
and Z. H. Adams was postmaster. The third, not counting 
Otter Creek, was at Jersey ville, E. M. Daley, post-master; the 
fourth at Grafton, Paris Mason, post-master; the fifth (a private 
office) at Otter Creek, J. M. Hurd, post-master. To these have 
been added Delhi, Fieldon, Fidelity and Elsah,but the dates and 
the order of appointment I have not within i^each. It is in the 
memory of some now living when all our mail matter was 
brought from Alton, at that time the nearest post-office to the 
settled portions of the county. 

The first newspaper established in Greene county was by 
Paris Mason, at Grafton, with John Russell, of Bluffilale, as 
editor. It was called the Backwoods?natz. This was in 1837, 
and its publication was continued until after the organization of 
Jersey county. It was then sold to a joint-stock company, and 
its publication resumed at Jerseyville by A. S. Tilden, in the 
spring of 1840. At a later period Tilden retired and Fletcher 
& Parenteau were printers and publishers. This office was 
burned down, and Fletcher went to Carrollton and published 
the Advocate in 1842. Then Wm. H. Allen published the 
Grafton Phcenix, and this was continued until 1844. After this 
a paper was started at Grafton, and then removed to Jersey- 
ville, after a while changing its name and appearing in 1849 
under the name of the Prairie State. But after many changes 
of editors and proprietors, this office was also burned. The 
two papers now published have had a varied histor3', but under 
their present management have achieved so much of a success 
that they may now be considered permanent institutions. The 
yersey County Democrat, by J. I. McGrady, and the y<.rsey- 
ville Republican, by Wm. H. Edgar, have fairly earned the 
popularity they now so eminently enjoy. 

In a thanksgiving sermon preached by Rev. L. Grosvenor, on 
the 24th of November, 1853, I find the following passage: 

" If we had in Illinois, or in the town of Jerseyville, an efficient and 
comprehensive system of public schools, such as they have ni Massachusetts, 
New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and even in some particular towns in 
our own State, we could very well do without a semmary, established by 



History of Jersey County. 29 

private funds. But is there a present prospect th.it the general apathy 
with regrard to pubhc schools will give place to a zeal in this behait, which 
will produce a system that will give to the children of Jerseyville anything 
like a thorough education ?' ' 

After tile lapse of twenty years, Jerseyville is prepared to 
answer'this question affirmatively. Illinois now takes a rank to 
which she is fairly entitled by wealth and population. She is 
not one whit, in her zeal or effectiveness of her system, behind 
her elder sisters of the east. And Jerseyville, in her graded 
school, can show as thorough work as in any school of like grade 
in the east or west. 

I have, in the previous part of this sketch, given an outline of 
the schools at the organization of the county. Through' tlie 
kindness of your efficient superintendent of schools in this 
county, I am permitted to present a summary, as I have gleaned 
it from his very full report of 1874. Whole number oi children 
under twenty-one years of age, 7,874; number over six and un- 
der twenty-one, 5,245; whole number ot school districts, 70; of 
districts having school five months in the year, sixty-six; not so 
much as five months, two; no schools, two; whole num- 
ber free public schools sustained, fifty-seven; months taught, 
466; whole number pupils enrolled, 3,563; of these 1,785 are 
males, 1,778 are females; whole number of teachers, 100; of 
these fifty-four are males, and forty-six females; number of 
graded schools, seven; number of days' attendance, 2689,166; 
number of private schools, three. Total number of pupils in 
private schools, ninety-four. 

Volumes in district libraries, 247. Number of school houses, 
sixty-nine; of these three are stone, ten brick, ten log, and for- 
ty-six are frame. Amount of district taxes received from coUec-- 
tor, $40,962.60; amount of interest from township fund, $3,- 
164.3S; amount from State school fund, $6,163.43; aggregate 
receipts from all sources, $71,791.80; amount paid to teachers, 
$29,293.85; amount paid for new school houses, $16,439.20; 
amount of township fund's principal, $41,786.96; amount of dis- 
trict taxes levied, $49,513.52. Of those who have filled the 
office of superintendent since the county was organized, I may 
be permitted to mention in their order, Joseph Crabb, James 
Harriott, B. B. Hamilton, Hiram Bridges, H. H. Howard, Wm. 



30 History of Jersey County. 

J. Herdman, C. H. Kuapp, and the present incumbent, Wm. H. 
Lynn. 

Looking over the field, tliere is doubtless much that could be 
made better, and yet, ascontrasted with the beginning of things, 
how grand the result! We shall begin the new century with a 
promise of progress in the future such as the fathers never 
dreamed of beholding. 

Let us now turn to the progress of the county in religious 
matters. It has been noted that at the organization of the coun- 
ty, there was not a house in it built exclusively for a place of 
worship. Since that time there have been erected, and are now 
standing, the following houses of worship: For the Methodist 
Episcopal church — at Elsah, Grafton, Salem, Shiloh, Meadow 
Branch, Otterville, East Nevvbern, Jerseyville, Fidelity, Ebene- 
zer, and Jerseyville, colored; (total, ii.) For the Baptists — 
Jerseyville, Otterville, Antioch, Fidelity, Lebanon, Paradise, and 
Jerseyville colored, (7.) For the Presbyterians — Jersey viUe 
First and Second, (2.) For the Cumberland Presbyterians — 
Newbern, Otterville and Ficldon, (3.) For the Catholics — ^Jer- 
seyville, Grafton and Fieldon, (3.) For the Lutherans — Jersey- 
ville and Fieldon, (2.) Total now in use, twenty-eight houses. 
Parsonages are owned — by the Methodists, 2 ; by the Catholics, 
3; Presbyterians i, and Baptists i. This gives a house of wor- 
ship for about every 541 of the population, and besides this it is 
to be borne in mind that several churches have built two houses 
within the thirty-seven years of which we are speaking. It is a 
matter of regret that I cannot give even an approximate value 
to these houses. If we estimate them as making an average of 
$5,000, we should have church property worth $155,000, includ- 
ing the value of parsonages, estimated at $2,000 each. Further- 
more, there are a number of organizations without a place of 
worship, save as they are permitted to meet in the district school 
houses. Taking all these into account, and we shall find the 
number of churches organized as about thirty -five. There is a 
Sunday-school attached to each one of these churches, or nearly 
so, there being enough Union and Mission schools to make up 
the difference, and this would give one-half as many Sunday- 
schools as school disiricts; and if there is an average attendance 
of 100 — and I think that would be a veiV largfe averasre — it 



History of Jersey County. 31 

would leave about 2,000 boys and efirls out of the Sunday-school 
over six years old. It will be apparent, by and by, that some- 
thing more is needed than to pile up brick and rriortar, in order 
to educate and evangelize the crowds of young people who are 
coming on. The house of worship and the school house are 
almost indispensable conditions — but they are only elements — in 
the grand work of training a people to virtue and haoplness. 

It has been said, " There is no royal road to learning"; and 
so, in like manner, the blessings of a worshipping, devout heart 
are only to be secured by a patient "continuance in well doing ". 

"Let us now proceed to the history of the Societies for mu- 
" tual relief, brotherhood and benevolence." 

The Pioneer among these was the Jerseyville Division, No. 
16, Sons of Temperance, organized August 4th, 1847. Charter 
members: G. C. Wood, E. J. Palmer, N. L. Adams, A. P. 
Brown, VVm. B. Nevius, T. L. McGill, A. B. Morean, C. H. 
Kn.ipp, P. C. Walker, F. Osborn, George Wharton, A. P. 
Staats and W. J. West. Nearly or quite 500 members were 
initiated; three Grand Worthy Patriarchs were taken from its 
membership; a hall worth something near $3,000 was built; but 
in the round of the years, the workers grew weary, and retired 
from the contest, allowing their property to pass from their hands, 
and the cause to die in the house of its friends. Bro. G. C. 
Wood was the first W, P., and N. L. Adams first W. A. 

Franklin Section, No. 9, Cadets of Temperance, was organ- 
ized Sept. 28, 1848. The charter members were: T. A. Boy- 
akin, W. Leigh, D. Sunderland, D. S. Yates, P. D. Cheney, F. 
Potts, H. N. WyckoflT, W. Cook, R. J. Hill, E. Miner, C. H. 
Vandike, P. Updike, and W. A. Potts. R. J. Hill was elected 
W. A., and D. S. Yates, Secretary. 

The Jerseyville Union, Daughters of Temperance, was organ- 
ized April 21, 1853, with twelve members: Mary Combs, Sarah 
Hansel, Sarah Culver, Mary A. Smith, Mary Osborn, F. Mau- 
pin, Marilla Levine, Elizabeth Dunsdan, Martha Nichols, Mary 
Snediker, Miss Lawrance and Elizabeth McGannon. This, like 
the preceding, belongs to the defunct institutions. Perhaps one 
cause of falling away may have been the faikire to carry the pro- 
hibitory liquor law of 1S54. While Jersey county gave a major- 
ity for the law of some 420, it was defeated by some 14,000 or 



33 History of Jersey County. 

more votes in the State. A stronger reason may be found in 
the fact that very many of these members became identified 
with other organizations, and preferred w^orking with them, 
rather than in the Division of Sons of Temperance. 

Prior to 1847, there was a County Temperance Society in ex- 
istence, with branches in all the principal neighborhoods, but 
this was short-lived. The Washingtonians spread over the 
country like a prairie fire, and only lasted for a single season. 
To-day there is a moi'e crying need of a good working organi- 
zation of temperance men than ever before. 

The Jerseyville Lodge, No. 53, ot Odd Fellows, was institu- 
ted May 5, 1848. Charter members: P. C. Walker, A. C. 
Hutchinson, Samuel Cowan, James H. Bringhurst, and C. H. 
Roberts. Twenty-seven members were admitted, among whom 
were Geo. E. Warren, Wm. Yates, Jonathan Plowman, W. 
Casey, N. L. Adams, James C. Perry, R. L. Hill, and Perley 
Silloway. Wm. Yates was elected N. G.; R. L. Hill V. G., 
and C. H. Roberts Secretary. The first Odd Fellows' hall 
was built in 1851, at a cost of $3,000, on Main street; this was 
afterwards sold, and a new hall erected on Pearl street. This 
is probably one of the best lodge rooms, outside of the larger 
cities, in the State. The Odd Fellows have been fortunate in 
the matter of good, steady, reliable members, faithful officers, 
and have consequently enjoyed a larger prosperity than any kin- 
dred institution. 

The Jerseyville Encampment, No. 30, of Odd Fellows, was 
instituted in 1853. Charter members were: W. Casey, C. H. 
Roberts, P. C. Walker, N. L. Adams, E. A. Casey, A. L. 
Knapp, and L. Grosvenor. L. Grosvenor was elected C. P.; 
E. A. Casey H. P., and N. L. Adams S. W. But this organi- 
zation was very far from being a success; and, after some years 
of trial, its charter was surrendered. In 186-, a new effort was 
made; the camp revived; a new charter was obtained, with the 
same numbers as before, and, I understand, is now in a healthy, 
flourishing condition. 

The Morning Sun Lodge, No. 94, of Free Masons, was or- 
ganized under dispensation, June 35, 1S50. Charter members: 
A. B. Morean, R. S. Holenback, Luther Corey, Solomon Cal- 
houn, N. L. Adams, C. H, Roberts, B. F. Page, E. J. Taylor, 



History of Jersey County. 33 

Wm. P. Campbell, and Asa Snell. B. F. Page was elected 
W. M.; A. B. Morean, S. W., and Wm. P. Campbell, J. W. 
For several years, this lodge maintained its organization, and 
new lodges went out from its borders — first, Fidelity, and then 
King Solomon's lodge at Kane — and, after these, Full Moon 
lodge at Meadow Branch, but since removed to Grat'ton. These 
organizations subtracted so much from the strength of the Morn- 
ing Sun lodge, together with its own internal difficulties', that its 
charter was surrendered, and the lodge ceased to exist. A new 
lodge has since been chartered, under the name of Jersey ville 
lodge, which has had a remarkable degree of prosperity. The 
record of the Chapter is as follows: 

Masonic — Jerse.yville Chapter, No. 140, R. A. M. Dispensation granted 
February 4, 1870. by John M. Pearson. First meeting, February 11, 1870; 
First officers: John L. White, H. P.; Robert M. Knapp. E. K.; Morris R. 
Locke, E. S. First work done on Febru.u-y 12. 1870 — Bro. James A Locke 
made M. M. Date of charter, October 7, 1870. Charter members: Geo. 
L. Hassett. Robert M. Knapp, Andrew Jackson. Smith M. Titus, Joseph 
B. Schroder, John N. Squier. Morns L. Locke. Ludlow P. Squier, Wil- 
liam L. Hassett. Milton D. Robbins, James S. Daniels. Nicoll F. Smith, Jr.. 
James H. Belt. Charles E. Miner, James A. Locke, Stephen H. Bowman, 
Robert Newton and Hiram McCluskey. Regjular convocation, Mondiiy 
after the full moon in each month. Present officers: Morris- R. Locke, 
M. E. H. P.; Ludlow P. Squier. E. K.; Ho?atio N. Belt. E. S.; James 
A. Locke. Secretary; Stephen H. Bowman, treasurer; Rev. Nathan E. Har- 
mon, chaplain; James S. Daniels. C. ot H.; Charles E. Miner, R. S.; Jos- 
eph G. Marston, R. A. C. ; David M. Houghtlin, G. M. of 3d V.; Benj. F. 
Calhoun. G. M.. 2d V. ; Lewis Y. Mc Adams. G. M. 1st V.; Wm. 8. Bren. 
ton. Geo. M. Trook. stewards; James Eads, sentinel. 

During the current year, an organization of the Knights of 

Pythias has been effected. 

Knights of Pythias, — Antioch Lodere. No. 65; instituted April 5, 1878, 
with the following charter members: Geo. W. Herdman, Geo. C. Cockrell. 
Wm. H. Edgar, A. H. Barrett. Robert B. Leak. W. S. Bowman. J. 1. Mc- 
Gready, James P. Holcombe, Samuel Snedeker. Bart. Wedding, Henry T. 
Nail, Geo. M. Eaton, H. D. Stelle. Charles E. Casey, Elias Cockrell, Henry 
Nevius, John Wiley, James H. Bothwell. Henry D. Field and Win. Scott. 
Officers as follows: Geo. C. Cockrell. P.O.; "Geo. W. Herdman, C. C; 
Henrv T. Nail. V. C; W. S. Bowman, Prelate; Geo. M. Eaton, M. of E.; 
Charles E. Casey. M. of F.; H. D. Stelle. K. of R. and S.; A. H. Barrett, 
M. at A.; Henry Nevius, I. G.; John Wiley, 0. G. "^ 

Some other organizations have had an existence (which flour- 
ished for a season, and then died) that need not here be enu- 
merated. The present status of the Odd Fellows may be in- 
ferred when we state that lodges may be found in good working 
order at Jersey ville, Elsah, Grafton, Otterville and Fieldon — 
with an encampment at Jeiseyville. Masonic lodges may be 



34 History of Jersey County. 

found at Jerseyville, Fidelity, Grafton, Otterville and Fieldon — 
with a Royal Arch chapter at Jerseyville. 

The banking interest was first represented by A. M. Black- 
burn and others — next finding a rival, after a number of years, 
in the house of Darcy, Teas & Cheney — and these giving way 
to Wm. Shephard & Co., and Shephard & Son, and again to 
Bowman & Ware, while, in the meantime, Cross & Swallow 
started a new institution, which has been changed to Cross, Car- 
lin & Co., and latterly to the First National Bank of Jerseyville. 

Manufacturing has largely gone into the shape of flouring 
mills. The large production and the excellent quality of wheat 
raised in Jersey county seemed to demand this; hence, some 
four mills have been built at Jerseyville, two at Grafton, one at 
Jersey Landing, one at Fieldon, one at Fidelity, one at Otter- 
ville, and one at East Newbern. Some of these have been burned 
down, and others rebuilt and enlarged, so that the general aver- 
age has been more than adequate to supply the home demand, 
and leave a large surplus for shipping. 

A paper mill was started at Jersey Landing, with a fair pros- 
pect of success, but, when burned down, it was not rebuilt. 
Other interests have at times been started, but, in turn, have fail- 
ed. Geo. Wharton laid the foundations for a large business in 
the way of manufacturing agricultural implements, but a suc- 
cession of bad seasons drove him away, and that department of 
industry has since been prosecuted by Robert Newton, whose 
energy and enterprise seem to be in a fair way to achieve an 
honorable and distinguished success. 

The Jersey County Agricultural and Mechanical Association 
has been successful from the start. It has never failed to pay its 
way. Tact in administration, zeal in the work, with judicious 
advertising, seem to be the elements which have contributed 
most largely to its prosperity. Its premium list for the current 
year shows no step backward upon its predecessors. While 
larger and more wealthy counties have failed, this society has 
written "Excelsior" upon its banner, and has made every year 
an improvement upon that which preceded it Of course, with 
such a spirit, agriculture has received an impulse and direction 
commensurate with its position as the great industry of the 
people. . , 



History of Jp;rsey County. 35 

We close this review by recalling the contrast presented at 
the first settlement, about sixty years ago. To those who watched 
the departure of the pioneer from his eastern home, the lines 
of Brainerd seem most fitly to apply: 

Far away from the hillside, the lake and the hamlet, 
The rock and the brook, and yon meadow so gay; 

From the loot- path that winds by the side of the streamlet, 
From his hut and the n^rave of his fnend far away. 

He has fjone where the footsteps of man never ventured. 

Where the glooms ot the wild-fangled forest are centered, 

Where no beam of the sun or the sweet moon have entered, 
No blood -hound has roused up the deer with his bay. 

He has left the green valley, for paths where the bison 
Roams throuah the praries or leaps o'er the flood ; 

Where the snake in the swamp sucks the deadliest poison, 
And the cat of the mountains keeps watch for his food. 

But the leaf shall be greener, the sky shall be purer, 

The eyes shall be clearer, the rifle be surer. 

And stronger the arm of the fearless endurer. 
That trusts naught but Heaven in its way through the wood. 

Light be the heart of the poor lonely wanderer. 

Firm be his step through each wearisome mile. 
Far from the cruel man, far iVom the plunderer, 

Far from the track of the mean and the vile. 
And when death, with the last of its terrors, assails him. 
And all but the last throb of memory fails him. 
He'll think of the friend, fur away, that bewails him, 

And light the cold touch of death with a smile. 

And there shall the dew shed its sweetness and lustre. 

And there for his pall shall the oak-leaves be spread; 
The sweet-briar shall bloom, and the wild grapes shall cluster, 

And o'er him the leaves of the ivy be shed. 
There sliall they mix with the fern and the heather. 
There shall the young eagle shed its fir.st feather. 
The wolves, with their wild dogs, shall lie there together. 

And moan o'er the spot where the hunter is laid. 

Now, when the East and the West are riveted together with 
iron bands; when, from the great valley, the seaboard can be 
reached in a little more than thirty hours — what wonder the 
buffalo and his hunter should be counted among the things of a 
by-gone time? That the prairie and the .swamp alike should 
yield to the hand of culture.' That the wilderness, and the sol- 
itary place, " wh(jre no man dwelt," should be made the home 
of thronging millions? In this wonderful development, the 
people who are before me to-da}' can proudly say: " We and 
our fathers have contributed our share. " And in this Centen- 
nial Anniversary of the Great Republic, can charge the rising 



36 History of Jersey County. 

generation to be mindful of the energy of patriotic sires who^ 
by patient toil, subdued the wilderness; by deeds of valor, over- 
came the savage foe, and raised up memorials of virtue in the 
churches which they planted, in the schools which they nour- 
ished, in the commerce which they cherished, and in the asso- 
ciations which they established. That from the heights to which 
our country has arisen, there ma}- be no descent, no falling away. 
Upward let them rise, onward let them press; and, when another 
century shall pass, the sun, in his circuit round the earth, will 
shine upon a world redeemed from the tyrannv, the darkness, 
and the superstition of ages, as the " Fatherhood of God and 
the Brotherhood of Man " shall be everywhere acknowledged. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



JERSEY COUNTY 



ILLin^OIS. 



DELIVERED AT JERSEYVILLE, JULY 4th, 1876, 



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